Chapter 121
When Lu Lingxi's family arrived at the hospital, Su Lang was already there. He had read Pan Xiaobao's case in advance. The good news was that Pan Xiaobao's condition was a good fit for Su Lang's research, but there was another problem: Pan Xiaobao was a little too young and had been very weak for some time, so Su Lang wasn't sure if the child could pass the medical examination and meet the recruitment requirements for volunteers.
Before Lu Lingxi and the others appeared, Su Lang had already spoken to Pan Liang in detail about the risks of the trial. As this was a new drug, they had no prior experience, and the length of the course of treatment and the dosage of the drug was entirely a matter of trial and error. Due to the complexities of the human body, they couldn't rule out any unknown side effects or after-effects. Before the trial, they would have all volunteers sign an informed consent form and they would be exempt from liability for any accidents during the trial. Of course, during the trial, volunteers could discontinue the trial at any time without any reason. No one, including the doctor, had the right to interfere with the volunteer's choice. The whole trial was free of charge and all expenses were borne by the laboratory itself.
Su Lang seriously said to Pan Liang, "Although I am confident in our laboratory's research, many of the risks are unpredictable. If Mr. Pan is not psychologically prepared enough, I would actually prefer to suggest that Pan Xiaobao be treated conservatively first and wait for a suitable bone marrow transplant."
Pan Liang was a little hesitant; it wasn't that he didn't know what Su Lang was saying. But he had consulted the doctors and suitable bone marrow wasn't that easy to come across. Some patients had been waiting for years, and might not be able to wait until they died. And even if they did, for various reasons, the other party might not be willing to donate. According to the doctors, they had one last option, to have another child. This child had a high chance of being a successful match for Pan Xiaobao. But what if it didn't work out? All their energy was already focused on Pan Xiaobao, what about that child?
These questions made Pan Liang hesitate. Su Lang didn't say anything more, but just told Pan Liang to think about it carefully.
When Wang Shuxiu came over, Pan Liang breathed a huge sigh of relief. He had so much pressure built up in his heart and he didn't know who to talk to. His wife was just as stressed as he was, having lost twenty pounds in less than a month, and he couldn't bear to pass that stress on to his wife. His parents and brothers all were alienated from him because of the matching. Like a drowning man clutching at straws, Pan Liang rambled on and on to Wang Shuxiu about his hesitations and dilemmas, hoping that Wang Shuxiu and Xiao Feng could help him decide what he should do.
The three of them whispered in the corridor as Yan Yue and Su Lang stood at the entrance of the ward talking about the progress of the experiment. Lu Lingxi was the only one who was fine, holding the Transformer he had bought for Pan Xiaobao and sitting gently beside the child.
"Brother, have you come to visit me?" Pan Xiaobao asked in a delicate voice. Because of his illness, he was now very thin and his voice sounded weak as he spoke.
Lu Lingxi nodded and placed the Transformer in his hands next to Pan Xiaobao's pillow.
Pan Xiaobao flashed a smile at Lu Lingxi and whispered, "Thank you, Brother, I like it a lot."
Lu Lingxi curved his eyes and tenderly reached out to touch Pan Xiaobao's face, saing softly, "It's alright, Doctor Su that Xiaobao saw just now is very powerful, he will definitely cure Xiaobao's illness."
Pan Xiaobao's eyes lit up, "Really?"
Lu Lingxi affirmed, "As long as Xiaobao takes his medicine obediently."
Pan Xiaobao nodded vigorously and promised, "I will be good and take my medicine." He said and held up his hand, "Brother, let's make a promise?"
Lu Lingxi raised his hand and repeated the gesture Su Lang had taught him before, touching Pan Xiaobao's thumb with his thumb gently and smiling, "Look, we have agreed that you will definitely be cured."
At the door of the ward, Su Lang turned around unintentionally and froze in place. He looked at Lu Lingxi's smiling face, and the scene before him overlapped amazingly with the scene in his memory. Su Lang was in a bit of a trance; he had seen the shadow of that boy in Lu Lingxi many times before, but never once had he felt that the two were so similar, it was almost like the same person. And that action… Su Lang closed his eyes slightly; he thought he might be crazy. He actually really thought that Lu Lingxi might be that boy. The same name, somewhat similar looks, and even the same warm feeling the young man gave when he smiled.
Su Lang couldn't say exactly what was going on in his heart; that young man's death was his demon, making it completely impossible for him to continue to stay at the hospital. The reason he was so passionate about the experiment was that apart from some vague things like ideals and values, he wanted to atone for his sins in this way. Su Lang had always felt that they, the doctors, needed to take a lot of the blame for that young man's death. If his family carried 60% of the blame, the remaining 40% was on the doctors. Without their connivance in disregarding the young man's health time and time again and acting as accomplices, the young man wouldn't have died on the operating table in the end.
"Su Lang?" Yan Yue noticed Su Lang being out of breath. He followed Su Lang's line of sight and frowned slightly.
"Sorry." Su Lang withdrew his gaze, somewhat bewildered, "What were we just talking about?"
Yan Yue gave him a deep look and said, "The lab needs to get the State Food and Drug Administration's drug clinical trial approval."
"Right." Su Lang nodded, "We've already submitted the application, but the approval has been delayed from Zhongjing. People suspect that Hopewell is behind it."
Yan Yue quickly said, "Leave this matter to me, I'll find a way."
"Good."
Su Lang was a little distracted and couldn't help but turn his head again to look at Lu Lingxi in the ward. Yan Yue's eyes darkened and he was about to say something when there was a sudden quarrel beside them in the corridor. Perhaps it wouldn't be appropriate to call it a quarrel, it was more like the doctor lecturing Pan Liang.
"How can you, as a parent, be so irresponsible? Ah, testing a new drug? A new drug that has no reputation at all and no guarantee whatsoever, and you dare to let your child try it? Are you Pan Xiaobao's father or not? Do you understand the seriousness of leukaemia? If there was really any medicine that worked, could the hospital not let you use it?"
Pan Liang was reprimanded by the doctor and was so embarrassed that he didn't know what to say.
Wang Shuxiu listened with some discontent. Although the doctor had good intentions and was acting in a responsible manner, he had gone too far in saying this about Pan Liang. Pan Liang was just a desperate man looking for help, and in the end, he was just trying to cure Pan Xiaobao. What about him not being Pan Xiaobao's father? This statement was simply poking Pan Liang in the heart. Wang Shuxiu's eyebrows went up and she was about to say something on Pan Liang's behalf, but Xiao Feng hurriedly stopped her. Pan Liang had not yet decided whether to participate in the new drug trial or not, and if he didn't, he would still have to continue his treatment in the hospital. It was not good to fall out with the doctor.
Su Lang and Yan Yue walked over. "What's going on?" At the same time, there was another old voice.
"Old Director." The doctor stopped mid-sentence, greeting hurriedly.
At this moment a tall, thin, somewhat stern looking old man walked over. The old man gave the crowd a serious look and said, "What's going on here? Is there a problem with the treatment? Or is there some difficulty?" He said as his eyes fell on Pan Liang. Pan Liang was the only one in the crowd with a scruffy beard and a haggard appearance, and at a glance he was a family member of the patient. "I am a doctor here. If family members have some questions, you can talk to me about any problems you have, I will definitely help you solve them if I can."
"Old Director, it's not…" The doctor was anxious to defend himself.
"Grandpa Zhao?" Lu Lingxi walked out when he heard the bickering outside, somewhat confused by the situation.
"Xiao Xi?" The old man was a little surprised to see Lu Lingxi, "Xiao Xi, what are you doing here?"
Lu Lingxi walked over and stood next to Yan Yue, signalling with his actions that they were all together.
The old man's expression softened and he asked again, "What is going on?"
Pan Liang looked at the old man and then at Su Lang, explaining what was going on. He spoke in a confusing manner, but the old man still caught the key point and became interested in the new drug trial Pan Liang was talking about. The old man followed Pan Liang's line of sight and looked at Su Lang, "Young man, did you come up with this new drug? It just so happens that I also studied these things before I retired, so tell me what the situation is."
"Old Director." The doctor from before was a little aggrieved.
The old man gave him a look, patted him on the shoulder and instructed, "Xiao Yu, come along and listen to this, we as doctors are most afraid of being stuck in our ways. It is the patients who will be delayed then."
As the old man invited everyone to his office, Xiao Feng whispered to Lu Lingxi that he felt there was no need for him and Wang Shuxiu to go there. They could as well use the time to go to the first floor to register and see if they could get in line for a check-up. He had whispered it to Lu Lingxi, but he didn't know that the old man had sharp ears and immediately said after hearing that, "Don't bother going to the first floor. I have an old buddy coming over later, he's a Chinese medicine doctor, let him check her pulse first."
Xiao Feng pondered in his heart that based on the old man's status, the person who could be called an old buddy by him was probably not simple, so he immediately smiled politely at the old man and followed him to the office. The old man took two steps behind and deliberately walked to Lu Lingxi's side, smiling, "Xiao Xi also knows him, that's your Grandpa Zhang, he'll be here in a moment."
Lu Lingxi said "en" and remembered something, "Is Grandpa Zhang's orchid okay?"
"It's good. A few days ago, Lao Zhang even said that he would take that orchid for you to take a look at Tiny Garden after the New Year. If he knew you'd come to the hospital today, he would definitely have come over with the orchid in his arms long ago."
When the old man said that, Lu Lingxi couldn't help but smile.
As expected, not long after they arrived at the office, "Lao Zhang" as the old man called him came over in a hurry. As soon as he saw Lu Lingxi, he first greeted him with a smile and then began to complain about the old man, "Look at you, Lao Zhao, you didn't tell me earlier, if I had known Xiao Xi was here, I would have brought the orchid over for Xiao Xi to see."
Elder Zhao shook his head with a smile and gave Lu Lingxi a look that said, "You see I'm right, right?" He interrupted Elder Zhang's complaint and gestured to Wang Shuxiu, asking him to check her pulse.
When it came to serious matters, Elder Zhang immediately became focused. He sat upright at another table and asked Wang Shuxiu to reach out, pressing two fingers to Wang Shuxiu's wrist. He didn't speak and no one in the group dared to speak, even Su Lang, who was talking about the new drug trial, subconsciously lowered his voice.
"There's nothing wrong with your body, just that you're pregnant, so you should take care in the future."
With the old man's shocking words, the whole room was stunned.
Chapter 122
Wang Shuxiu's pregnancy was a big joy, so everyone was happy. Even Pan Liang in his suffering managed to squeeze out a smile and congratulated Wang Shuxiu. On the other hand, Wang Shuxiu couldn't recover from her state of shock and found it hard to believe. Although she told Xiao Feng she was able to have another child, honestly she didn't hold much hope for it. She always thought she was too old to have a baby and she never thought she would get pregnant.
When she reacted, the first thing she thought of was Lu Lingxi. Although Xiao Xi was quite in favour of her having another child, talking about it and having a real one was definitely not the same. Wang Shuxiu was worried that Lu Lingxi would feel abandoned and thought she should say something to him. When she looked up, Xiao Feng was standing beside Lu Lingxi, with one hand on his shoulder, and both father and son had the same smile on their faces, looking at her with concern. Wang Shuxiu unconsciously felt relieved.
With this, the atmosphere in the office improved a lot. Su Lang continued to talk about his new drug trial; Elder Zhao was very interested in it and even Pan Xiaobao's attending doctor wasn't as resistant as he was at the beginning.
When Su Lang finished speaking, Elder Zhao pondered slightly, "Xiao Su, I would like to go and see your experiments, I wonder if it's convenient?"
"Of course it's convenient." While Elder Zhao didn't know Su Lang, Su Lang knew Elder Zhao, an expert in the research of blood diseases in China. If Elder Zhao could give them a little guidance on their experiments, perhaps their progress would be a little faster.
Su Lang left a phone number for Elder Zhao, saying that he could call him anytime. Pan Xiaobao's attending doctor watched the two of them finish speaking, and nodded to Su Lang with some embarrassment. He had gone a bit overboard with his emotional remarks earlier but it was really because they had encountered too many frauds in their department. The more terminal the disease was, the more scammers came to the door, claiming that there was some kind of qigong cure, a cure for cancer, a new drug trial or something. The family who didn't know better took these charlatans as life-savers, and as a result, the treatment of the patients was delayed until it was too late to regret. The doctor was passing by and heard the conversation; thinking they were another bunch who wanted money, he just…
Su Lang smiled and understood the doctor's previous concern. He had also encountered similar things in Zhongjing. Besides, their lab really didn't have much of a name, it was just a private organization, and it was normal to be misunderstood. He was fine, and Pan Liang couldn't make a decision for a while, so Wang Shuxiu and others said goodbye to Pan Xiaobao and were ready to go home from the hospital.
They separated in the car park; Su Lang originally thought of having a meal with Yan Yue, but now he was in a hurry to rush back to the lab, so dinner could only continue to be put off. As he was leaving, Su Lang looked at Lu Lingxi and wanted to say something, but hesitated for a few seconds and said nothing.
Yan Yue frowned slightly. Su Lang's behavior was a bit strange. He didn't like the way Su Lang looked at Lu Lingxi as if he was looking at another person.
"Let's go." Yan Yue said.
Lu Lingxi habitually got into Yan Yue's car. Usually Wang Shuxiu didn't feel anything when she saw this, but today, perhaps because her perspective changed, she always felt that something was wrong. She thought about it and asked Xiao Feng suspiciously, "Do you think Xiao Xi and Yan Yue are getting a little too close?"
Xiao Feng was taken aback and then smiled. "Yan Yue is not a bad guy. Hasn't Xiao Xi always been on good terms with him? Why do you ask that?"
Wang Shuxiu couldn't say; it was just a feeling. She suspected that she might be a bit paranoid because she was pregnant and everything she looked at felt wrong.
Xiao Feng patted Wang Shuxiu's hand soothingly and said, "If you don't like Yan Yue as a neighbour, how about we move back to my place and Xiao Xi can come along?"
Wang Shuxiu glared at him, "I'm used to living here, so why bother? Besides, Yan Yue is a good guy, I just think he and Xiao Xi are a bit too close. It's not a big deal, I guess I'm overly concerned."
When she said this, Xiao Feng smiled and didn't say anything more.
They went back to the community, only to find two police cars parked by the building, and most of the neighbours to the left and right standing outside, gathering in groups to talk.
"What's going on here?" Wang Shuxiu asked, stopping Auntie Ma from upstairs.
Seeing their family coming back, Auntie Ma enthusiastically admonished, "Don't go home yet, let the police see if there are any snakes in the house." She looked at Wang Shuxiu and the others and said, half-explaining and half-complaining, "I don't know what people are thinking nowadays, what's wrong with keeping cats and dogs at home? In two buildings near us, three snakes were lost in one night, and all of them were poisonous. I heard that only the snake in Xiao Tian's house had its teeth pulled out and couldn't bite, but the other two didn't have their teeth pulled out and were quite poisonous. At first they put up notices all over the community to keep an eye out for them, but later they couldn't find them and called the police. In the New Year, don't you think this is a toss!"
Wang Shuxiu listened and couldn't say anything; the little bastard also had a snake at home. Although it wasn't poisonous, it wasn't good to mention it now.
Xiao Feng saw that the situation would continue for a while and thoughtfully said to Wang Shuxiu, "Xiaohua, get in the car first and rest, it's cold outside."
Wang Shuxiu thought that she was pregnant and that it would be troublesome to take medicine if she caught a cold, so she listened to Xiao Feng and went back to the car. While the two of them were talking, Lu Lingxi sheepishly pulled Yan Yue and whispered, "Big Brother Yan, let's go in and take a look, maybe it's Xiaohei…"
When talking about Xiaohei, Lu Lingxi lowered his voice for fear of being overheard by the people around.
Yan Yue nodded, but refused to let Lu Lingxi go in with him, instead asking Lu Lingxi to wait for him outside. What if it wasn't Xiaohei but a real poisonous snake that had escaped and it bit Lu Lingxi? While Lu Lingxi was insisting, Fang Lei came out from the entrance of the building and his eyes lit up when he saw them both.
"You guys live here?"
Lu Lingxi nodded; Fang Lei smiled, "It's a coincidence, do you know what's going on? Someone called the police and said that several small snakes were lost around here…" He was talking about it, but halfway through he stopped suddenly, looked at Lu Lingxi thoughtfully, and asked in a low voice, "Xiaohei?"
Lu Lingxi looked embarrassed, not knowing whether to nod or not.
Fang Lei was speechless for a long time and called the two of them to follow him in to have a look. Considering Xiaohei's habits, the three of them went to Yan Yue's house first. When they entered, everything was normal. Yan Yue called out Xiaohei's name and saw Xiaohei slowly crawling out from under the sofa, with three snakes by his side.
Everyone: "…"
Xiaohei looked at Yan Yue and then at Lu Lingxi, and herded the snakes to crawl to Fang Lei's side, coiling and hissing.
Fang Lei was puzzled and looked at Yan Yue, "What does Xiaohei mean?"
Yan Yue smirked, "Xiaohei wants to trade these snakes with you for the cake. Or you can catch them yourself if you want to."
Fang Lei didn't know whether to cry or to laugh. So Xiaohei still remembered about the little green snake. When he came in, he was carrying a small box to contain snakes. After ten pieces of cake were promised to Xiaohei, Xiaohei helped him drive all three snakes into the box. Fang Lei was quite satisfied, and so was Xiaohei, waving his tail excitedly. Xiaohei forgot that there was still Yan Yue, ready to settle the accounts. When there were no more snakes on the floor, Yan Yue reached out, picked Xiaohei up, opened his mouth and moved his teeth around, saying sternly, "From now on, you can only drink milk, no more cakes or biscuits. If I see you sneaking around catching snakes again, you won't even have any milk, and you'll have to eat vegetables with Xiao Baiwan."
Xiaohei wilted at the lecture and wrapped around Yan Yue's wrist ingratiatingly. Fang Lei looked amused and said a few good words in Xiaohei's defence. Xiaohei had accidentally done a good deed. Nowadays, it was popular to keep snakes and lizards, which was dangerous and affected the lives of the residents around. In particular, some people liked to keep poisonous snakes and refused to pull out their teeth, so one accidental escape would be a problem. Xiaohei scared them this time, and later the police would criticise and educate the owners, urging him to pull out the poisonous teeth, so that the neighbours around could have some peace of mind in the future.
Yan Yue let Xiaohei off the hook this time for the sake of Fang Lei's face, but he still took Xiaohei to brush his teeth again. Xiaohei curled under the sofa and refused to come out no matter how much Fang Lei teased him.
Fang Lei soon sent away the snakes he had caught, and one by one the upstairs neighbours returned home. Everyone believed Fang Lei's words that the snakes were caught in the yard, and the neighbours felt that it was too dangerous to live on the first floor. It was a good thing there was not much grass in winter; if it were overgrown with weeds in summer, it would be impossible to find the snakes for a while.
Several families that raised the snakes were lectured by Fang Lei for a long time. Now the law was not perfect and there were no special restrictions on keeping pets or anything. It was okay to raise snakes but it was better to keep non-venomous snakes, and if they kept poisonous snakes, they had to remember to pull out their teeth, being responsible not only for themselves but also for the surrounding neighbours.
After settling the snake matter, Fang Lei didn't stay long and left in a hurry. He was on duty today and was very busy with a lot of things. As soon as Fang Lei left, Xiao Hong, Zhou Xiaoman and Xiao Baiwan came to see Wang Shuxiu. They were very happy to hear the news that Wang Shuxiu was pregnant and bought a lot of things along the way.
"Little clothes, little towels, little mats." Zhou Xiaoman spoke to Wang Shuxiu as she sorted them out.
Wang Shuxiu looked at the things that occupied half of the bed and didn't know what to say. "It's still early, at least nine months to wait, Sister-in-law, you're in too much of a hurry." (They count pregnancy in lunar months (28 days), so the whole term is ten months.)
"Nine months is very soon." Zhou Xiaoman didn't care what Wang Shuxiu said and went straight to putting the toys she had bought for the baby on the bed. "By the way, with a baby this house will be a bit small. What are your plans?"
Wang Shuxiu and Xiao Feng now lived in a small, old-fashioned two-bedroom apartment, which was barely enough for a family of three, but not for a family of four. Especially after the birth of a child, they needed space for a crib, toys and so on. Zhou Xiaoman was thinking even further ahead, "The child will have to go to school in the future, right? If the school here isn't good, you should look for a house near a good school and buy it. Nowadays, schools are zoned according to household registration, so you have to plan ahead."
To be honest, what Zhou Xiaoman said didn't occur to Wang Shuxiu at all. She had raised Lu Lingxi as a semi-free-range kid and hadn't thought about such things.
Zhou Xiaoman looked at her expression and understood, and smiled all of a sudden. "Your big brother and I have discussed it. We plan to sell the mine in the northwest, and the two of us will move to Fengcheng. You and Xiao Feng are just two people, and you'll definitely be tired of taking care of business with the kids in the future, so your big brother and I can give you a hand. I've heard that this community has a nice environment, and your big brother stopped by to look at a few houses when he went out two days ago. When the house here is settled, you and Xiao Feng will move there first. The house there is large, so you can hire a nanny or something and enjoy life."
Wang Shuxiu was happy to hear that Zhou Xiaoman was settling in Fengcheng, but she was in no hurry to move, "Let's talk about it later."
"That's fine."
Because of Wang Shuxiu's pregnancy, everyone was revolving around her during the New Year's holidays. On the seventh day of the first month, Lu Lingxi and Yan Yue went to Lingshui Village and brought a lot of things with them.
Uncle Li, Xiao Shi… There was also an extra Uncle Xu. Lu Lingxi didn't even know when Xiao Shi got so friendly with Uncle Xu. All he knew was that there was a new starling in the plant nursery that called "Let's eat" when it was time.
"Let's eat, let's eat."
It was noon when they went there. Uncle Li was in the plant nursery looking after the plants, while Uncle Xu, who had nothing to do, helped him. The starling flew over the two men's heads, reminding them that it was time for a break.
Uncle Li smiled and shook his head, "What else does Little Starling know besides eating?"
"Find people, find people." The starling chirped in a shrill voice.
Lu Lingxi and Yan Yue laughed as soon as they came in and heard it.
Chapter 123
Lu Lingxi and Yan Yue had a meal at Uncle Li's house at noon, and in the afternoon they slipped away to take a look at the Lingshui River.
Last year the two of them discussed the idea of renting a few more acres of land by the Lingshui River and digging a larger pond. At that time, there were a lot of things to do, so the idea of the pond was never implemented. This time, they planned to stay at the plant nursery for a day and sign the contract to rent the land. Uncle Li had already negotiated everything; the price and the number of years of the lease had all been agreed, and they just needed to come and finalise it.
The two of them were going to sign the contract after dinner, but it turned out that the other party happened to go out to visit relatives today and wouldn't be back until the evening. Lu Lingxi thought that there was no hurry anyway, so they should go to the river first and plan how to divert the water easily.
The two of them walked slowly, with Dahei quietly following Lu Lingxi. Although it was early spring, it wasn't cold outside at all, and the sun shone warmly. Before leaving home, Yan Yue had insisted that Lu Lingxi put on a down jacket, but he himself only wore a woollen coat. Lu Lingxi protested for a long time before he managed not to wear the down jacket; it was too hot to wear it. He remembered Uncle Li's reminder and discussed with Yan Yue whether he should find someone to drill a well, as Uncle Li was worried that there would be a drought in the spring.
To put it mildly, Uncle Li wasn't worrying unreasonably. The weather had been a bit strange since last winter. At the beginning of November last year, the temperature in Fengcheng suddenly dropped sharply. There was no heating at that time and it was freezing cold at home. Many people were frozen to the point of catching a cold and the cold medicines at the drug stores were wiped out. Then Fengcheng had the heating turned on ten days early, and experienced old farmers said they expected a cold winter. Who knew that it would only be cold for a month in total, and as soon as December passed the weather started to warm up again. After that it didn't snow for two whole months, and the good weather lasted until the New Year.
The ice on the Lingshui River melted as soon as spring started, and it looked like "spring was in full bloom". Uncle Li was a bit worried and told Lu Lingxi privately that the weather was going to be very dry. But he couldn't say for sure and he didn't know what was going on. In recent years, it seemed God was playing with them like a child, with things changing at the drop of a hat. For example, in Guangdong, where Uncle Li's son worked, there was a severe drought at the beginning of spring last year, and many homes had difficulty in getting water. After a few months of hardships, it started to rain, and the rain didn't stop, turning into a huge flood. In short, it wasn't a good thing that the weather was so unpredictable, so Uncle Li thought of building a well to prepare for it.
Lu Lingxi didn't know much about these things, but he trusted Uncle Li's judgement. After he said that, Yan Yue agreed. Anything was fine with him, as long as Lu Lingxi was happy.
"There's also the Qiu Tian plant nursery and Dad's vegetable greenhouse." Lu Lingxi added, and after some thought said to Yan Yue, "Why don't we pay for a well for the village too? It's convenient to dig two together anyway. Just in case there's a real drought."
Tiny Garden and Lingshui Village had always worked well together, and the residents of the village also looked after Lu Lingxi. Lu Lingxi somewhat considered this place to be his second home, and his feelings for Lingshui Village were much deeper than those for Zhongjing. He had always wanted to do something to help the village. It wouldn't cost much to build a well and it would also be convenient for the village to get water in the event of a major drought.
When Lu Lingxi finished speaking, he looked at Yan Yue expectantly. Yan Yue smiled lightly and agreed, "Okay."
Yan Yue himself was used to doing things from the perspective of profit, but he liked Lu Lingxi's softness and kindness. He rubbed Lu Lingxi's hair in a slightly doting manner and joked, "Xiao Xi is the boss, Big Brother Yan listens to Xiao Xi."
Lu Lingxi glanced at him angrily with a bulging face, curved his eyes and laughed.
The two of them wandered all the way to the Lingshui River, and from a distance they heard the sound of the river's rushing water. This was the first time Lu Lingxi had come over since the Lingshui River had been completely purified. Unlike the blue water flow he had seen on the panel, the Lingshui River in front of him was crystal clear, and under the sunlight, it seemed that even the patterns on the pebbles at the bottom of the river could be seen clearly.
Because of the warmth of the day, there was already tender green grass sprouting from the damp soil at the river's edge. Lu Lingxi squatted by the river and excitedly reached out to touch it, calling Yan Yue to come over to see it together. Last year, when the Lingshui River was at its most polluted, apart from the mutated eelgrass at the bottom of the river, almost nothing was growing along the river, and it was so bare that it was unsightly. The tender green grass in front of him wasn't yet very conspicuous, but in Lu Lingxi's eyes, it looked better than anything else.
"Brother Xiao Xi."
Xiao Shi ran from the village with Ah Huang, calling out Lu Lingxi's name as he ran. Lu Lingxi smiled, getting up, and Xiao Shi was going to pounce into his arms like a little cannonball. Yan Yue was worried that Lu Lingxi wouldn't be able to hold Xiao Shi, so he reached out and gently stopped Xiao Shi, taking him into his own arms. Xiao Shi's mouth deflated and he whined softly, "Brother Xiao Xi…"
Lu Lingxi stood by Yan Yue's side, amused, and stroked Xiao Shi's face, "Happy New Year, Xiao Shi."
Xiao Shi immediately cheered up, showing his teeth in a smile, "Brother Xiao Xi, Happy New Year."
Lu Lingxi took out two red envelopes from Yan Yue's jacket pocket and handed them to Xiao Shi. He had been receiving red envelopes throughout the New Year and finally had the chance to give some. "Here, Brothers give them to you."
Xiao Shi blinked and shook his head, "Mom said she wouldn't let me receive red envelopes from others."
Lu Lingxi looked at his little face with a serious expression and smiled faintly, "It's from Brother Xiao Xi and Big Brother Yan, not others."
Xiao Shi happily accepted the red envelopes and grinned, "Thank you, Brother Xiao Xi and Uncle Yan."
Yan Yue: "…"
Lu Lingxi was about to laugh to death; Xiao Shi was obviously doing it on purpose. He held back his laughter, unable to look at Yan Yue's expression, and reached out to pinch Xiao Shi's face. "Little villain."
Xiao Shi hugged Lu Lingxi's arm flatteringly and squeezed from Yan Yue's arms to Lu Lingxi's. After the lesson from last time, Xiao Shi had been quite obedient during this period of time. Every day, he either stayed at home or followed Yu Xiaojuan to the plant nursery. When Lu Lingxi called him on the first day of the New Year to say that he would come to Lingshui Village after the New Year, Xiao Shi began to look forward to it. Finally, when Lu Lingxi came over, Xiao Shi went to the plant nursery but found no one there. However, Ah Huang sniffed the smell of Dahei and showed the way.
Lu Lingxi accompanied Xiao Shi to play by the river for a while until it was almost three o'clock. Yan Yue touched Lu Lingxi's face. Although it wasn't very cold outside, after staying out for a long time, Lu Lingxi's face was still a bit cold. When Xiao Shi saw his action, his eyes twinkled and he said obediently, "Brother Xiao Xi, let's go back."
Lu Lingxi also felt that he had stayed outside for a bit too long, so he nodded at these words.
With his back to Lu Lingxi, Xiao Shi made a face at Yan Yue. Yan Yue unceremoniously stretched out his hand and caught Xiao Shi. "Uncle Yan will carry you." Yan Yue focused on the word "Uncle". Xiao Shi wanted to break free, but he couldn't resist Yan Yue's strength. He opened his mouth and looked at Lu Lingxi, aggrieved.
Lu Lingxi didn't know whether to cry or to laugh. He couldn't do anything about the two of them. He was about to speak when a dog barked from far away in the village. Dahei suddenly stopped in his tracks, barked in a low voice at Lu Lingxi and darted towards the village.
Ah Huang followed closely behind Dahei, and Yan Yue frowned slightly, "What's wrong?"
Lu Lingxi looked oddly in the direction of the village and said, "Dahei said that the village dog was being bullied."
"It's that grey cat, it must be that grey cat." Xiao Shi immediately jumped up, forgetting for a moment his disagreement with Yan Yue and shouting angrily.
"What grey cat?" Lu Lingxi was a little confused.
Xiao Shi clenched both hands into fists and angrily explained to Lu Lingxi, "I don't know when a big grey cat came to the village. That cat is so annoying, and it bullies the dogs in the village. Ah Huang fought with it twice. Every time that big cat couldn't beat Ah Huang, it ran away, and when Ah Huang was gone, it came back to bully the village dogs."
Xiao Shi, because he could communicate with Ah Huang, subconsciously saw himself as being on the same side as the village dogs. Every time he watched the village dogs being bullied, Xiao Shi felt the anger of sharing a common enemy.
Lu Lingxi and Yan Yue looked at each other; both of them felt that this cat was probably not an ordinary cat; it should have evolved. "Let's go and have a look," Yan Yue said.
Lu Lingxi nodded.
The three of them entered the village and followed the dog's barking all the way. They soon saw a big grey cat crouching on the roof of a house with its eyes narrowed as it looked down at Dahei. Dahei stared at the cat warily with his back arched. A small white dog that looked familiar happily ran around Dahei, barking provocatively at the grey cat every now and then. The grey cat didn't bother with the little white dog at all, keeping its eyes on Dahei. On the contrary, Dahei was distracted by the little white dog, and whenever the little white dog left his reach, Dahei would stop it with his paw. The little white dog seemed to think that Dahei was playing a game with it, sticking its tongue out and licking Dahei's face affectionately as it ran even more happily.
The grey cat on the roof heard the sound of Lu Lingxi's footsteps and lazily turned its head to look over. When it saw Lu Lingxi, it gave up confronting Dahei and meowed at Lu Lingxi.
Lu Lingxi met the grey cat's golden pupils and had a vague feeling that he seemed to have seen this cat somewhere before. Yan Yue reminded him, "Last time in the south of the city."
Lu Lingxi recalled suddenly. The last time he and Yan Yue had gone to the south of the city to see the purification of the soil there, they had happened to meet this cat. At that time, this cat was lying in the sun on a tree and even meowed at him. But the south of the city was a long way away, so how could this cat have come so far to this place?
Dahei saw Lu Lingxi trotting to him, and the grey cat took another look at Lu Lingxi, turned around, jumped and disappeared.
"That's it." Xiao Shi said angrily.
Lu Lingxi soothingly coaxed Xiao Shi, who felt even more angry than Dahei, as if he was the one being bullied.
"Wait until we catch it next time and teach it a lesson, okay?"
Xiao Shi nodded vigorously, "We must teach it a lesson, we can't let it keep bullying the village dogs."
Lu Lingxi agreed with a smile.
After coaxing Xiao Shi, the two of them sent Xiao Shi back home. On the way back to the plant nursery, Lu Lingxi talked to Yan Yue about the cat. He remembered that he had also found Xiaohei in the village last time, and this time the cat was found in the village. Presumably both had been attracted to the big willow tree. To some extent, animals were much more perceptive than humans.
Lu Lingxi thought of this and tilted his head to look at the big willow tree not far away. Through the panel as an intermediary, he had a wonderful connection with the big willow tree. Lu Lingxi had a vague feeling that the big willow tree seemed to be about to evolve once again.
Chapter 124
In the evening after dinner Yan Yue followed Uncle Li to sign the contract. It was a bit windy outside and Yan Yue was worried about the weather, so he didn't let Lu Lingxi go out.
Lu Lingxi stayed in the courtyard with nothing to do, so he took Dahei to the greenhouse. The greenhouse was always full of greenery, no matter what the weather was outside. Uncle Li set the temperature of the greenhouse at a constant 20 degrees, and Lu Lingxi felt a wave of warm air coming over him as soon as he entered the door. It was very comfortable. He took off his jacket and wearing only a thin V-neck jumper went to the area where the kale was planted.
The kale planted in the plant nursery was the 'Dove' series with wrinkled leaves, neatly shaped and beautifully variegated, looking like a peony when in full bloom. This was the time when the kale was in bloom, and the purple-red flowers were bright and eye-catching, like a richly coloured painting unfolding in front of you.
Every time Lu Lingxi came to the greenhouse to see this scene, he would be in a good mood. He walked over quickly, not forgetting to call Dahei to follow. Dahei dawdled and seemed to be unwilling to go over for a while, then rushed to Lu Lingxi and whimpered in a low voice. Lu Lingxi looked at Dahei's rare coquettish behaviour with amusement. Dahei looked like this every time he came here. He beckoned, unmoved by Dahei's coquettishness, "Hurry up, Dahei, come here."
Dahei gave a low bark, and Lu Lingxi couldn't help but smile as he listened. He curved his eyes at Dahei and assured, "We're not eating cabbage today."
Dahei barked again and Lu Lingxi held back his laughter and nodded, trying to justify, "Kale is not cabbage."
Dahei squatted there with a serious expression, Lu Lingxi clutched his stomach, practically dying of laughter.
If the thing that Xiao Baiwan hated the most was eating vegetables, then Dahei had a little bit of empathy with Xiao Baiwan, to put it mildly. He didn't hate eating vegetables, but he hated eating cabbage. Originally, Lu Lingxi didn't know this about Dahei, but once he and Dahei were at Dong Zhi's place and Lu Lingxi happened to come across Dong Zhi mixing chopped cabbage into his homemade dog food, saying that cabbage was nutritious and could heal teary eyes, so he could give some to the dog appropriately. Lu Lingxi remembered that, went back and chopped up cabbage for Dahei to eat. How could he imagine that Dahei would act coquettish and cute just not to eat it. Only then did Lu Lingxi realise that Dahei didn't like cabbage.
Later, the plant nursery planted kale, a variant of the edible kale cabbage, which could be used as an ornamental plant as well as eaten. Lu Lingxi wanted to trick Dahei into eating kale, but was surprised when Dahei discovered it at once. Every time he came to the plant nursery after that, Dahei was very wary, especially when he approached the kale.
Thinking of this, Lu Lingxi stopped laughing and thought of promising Dahei that he wouldn't cheat him this time. He was about to say something when Dahei suddenly stood up, growled in a low voice and lunged behind Lu Lingxi.
In the flowers, a big grey cat leapt up and jumped lightly onto a shelf. It was the same grey cat that Lu Lingxi had seen before. Lu Lingxi was a little surprised and wondered how it had gotten in. Dahei squatted under the shelf and barked. Lu Lingxi followed Dahei's voice and saw a half-eaten kale.
The grey cat noticed Lu Lingxi's line of sight and turned to run. Dahei pounced on it as fast as lightning. Only a sharp cat cry was heard, and the grey cat was directly caught down by Dahei in the air.
"Dahei."
Lu Lingxi hurriedly stopped Dahei's next move, walked over and squatted in front of the grey cat. He tentatively stretched out his hand towards the grey cat, who meowed, aggrieved, and stuck out its tongue to lick Lu Lingxi's hand ingratiatingly.
Dahei crouched vigilantly by Lu Lingxi's side staring at the grey cat, but Lu Lingxi could sense that the cat had no animosity towards him. He patted Dahei soothingly and stood up with the grey cat in his arms. "You do know what's good." Lu Lingxi poked the meat on the grey cat's belly, took the half-eaten kale and took Dahei back to the small courtyard.
An hour later the bathing and feeding of the cat was all done. When Yan Yue returned, he found a new cat called Xiaohui (Little Grey) in the courtyard. Lu Lingxi always had a simple way of naming: Dahei, Xiaohei and Xiaohui. In fact the grey cat wasn't little at all, but Lu Lingxi felt that in order to establish Dahei as the boss, apart from Dahei, all the others had to have "little" in their names.
Yan Yue listened indulgently to Lu Lingxi's reasoning and called the big grey cat's name tentatively. "Xiaohui?"
The big grey cat glanced at him lazily with an arrogant look of "stupid mortal, don't bother me".
Yan Yue's heart was itchy. It seemed that cats were like that, so arrogant that they ignored everyone. He didn't care, and walked past the big grey cat towards Lu Lingxi. Xiaohei slowly poked his head out of Yan Yue's sleeve, and the big grey cat immediately exploded when he saw Xiaohei. He stood on his two hind legs, took a few steps backwards and his two front paws snapped left and right in the direction of Xiaohei. Xiaohei was startled and fell out of Yan Yue's sleeve, falling to the ground with a "pop".
Yan Yue: "…"
Lu Lingxi snorted out a laugh, and even Dahei looked a little dumbfounded. Xiaohei got up from the ground dizzily, biting dumbly on Yan Yue's trouser leg as he looked at the big grey cat. Yan Yue had realised that Xiaohei's resourcefulness was all focused in his talent for finding food, and normally he was very dumb. He helplessly bent down, picked up Xiaohei and threw him to Dahei to keep away from the big grey cat. Otherwise, before the big grey cat could do anything, Xiaohei himself would be scared to death.
When they went to bed at night, it took Yan Yue a long time to get the big grey cat to sleep in another room. Dahei and Xiaohei were quite conscious, but the big grey cat was so fond of the kang bed that he refused to go out alive or dead. Lu Lingxi was dying of laughter as he hugged the blanket. Yan Yue raised his eyebrows, "Is that funny?"
Lu Lingxi just wanted to nod but quickly changed his mind and was about to shake his head in response when Yan Yue pinned him down and started tickling his waist.
"Big Brother Yan…" Lu Lingxi cried out softly, his beautiful black eyes clouded with mist from laughter. He gasped and struggled to avoid Yan Yue's tickling hands, and Yan Yue's eyes darkened as he pulled Lu Lingxi's hand to touch his own active part.
Lu Lingxi's face turned even redder and he tried to pull back his hand, but Yan Yue held it down.
"Xiao Xi." Yan Yue softly called out Lu Lingxi's name and lowered his head to kiss him.
Ever since Yan Yue returned from Zhongjing on the night after the third day of the New Year, he had stayed with Lu Lingxi only for one night. Then Wang Shuxiu turned out to be pregnant and Lu Lingxi's whole heart was set on Wang Shuxiu, so he watched over her from morning to night. Yan Yue felt sour in his heart, but he couldn't show it, so he had to find every excuse to go next door to see Lu Lingxi every day. Now that it was finally possible to enjoy being alone together by coming to the plant nursery, Yan Yue was like a traveller walking in the desert and seeing an oasis. He kissed Lu Lingxi hungrily, as if trying to absorb Lu Lingxi into his body fiercely.
"Xiao Xi." Getting release in his hands, Yan Yue called out Lu Lingxi's name. Lu Lingxi's face was as red as a boiled shrimp. He made a clumsy and shy effort to please Yan Yue. Yan Yue was filled with sweetness and hugged and kissed Lu Lingxi again.
"Baby, I love you."
Lu Lingxi nodded with a little blush. Yan Yue looked for a tissue to help Lu Lingxi wipe his hands clean, looked down at him and asked, "Let's confess to your mom, okay?"
Lu Lingxi was slightly stunned, "Now?"
Yan Yue moved over and nodded, touching Lu Lingxi's beautifully shaped lips, softly saying, "I want to be able to sleep with Xiao Xi in my arms every day, to be with Xiao Xi openly and honestly."
Lu Lingxi was a little worried, "Mom will be angry, right?"
He was no longer as ignorant of the world as he had been after his rebirth, when Yan Yue had told him that two men could also be together and that there were many people like them. He had always thought that he and Yan Yue were together like Brother Dong and his girlfriend, but slowly Lu Lingxi realised that they were still different. Although they also liked each other, lived together and led the same peaceful life, outsiders looked at them in a completely different way. He was a little afraid that Wang Shuxiu was one of those who had this different attitude.
"Don't be afraid, leave it to me." Yan Yue finished, lowering his head and kissing Lu Lingxi deeply. He never regretted approaching Lu Lingxi in the first place, nor did he regret tying him to his side when Lu Lingxi still didn't understand anything. He couldn't imagine what his life would be like now if he hadn't met Lu Lingxi. In his twenty-eight years of life, the only gift God had given him was that he had met Lu Lingxi. In order for the two to be together, he was willing to fight the gods and the Buddhas.
Yan Yue's attitude made Lu Lingxian feel relieved. He had a kind of unconditional trust in Yan Yue from the bottom of his heart, as if no matter what problems he encountered, he could just leave them to Yan Yue. Lu Lingxi buried his face in Yan Yue's chest, hugged his waist and said vaguely: "Big Brother Yan, let's go to sleep."
Yan Yue chuckled, stroked Lu Lingxi's back and coaxed him, "Go to sleep."
The next morning, Yan Yue habitually woke up early. Lu Lingxi was huddled in his arms, like a soft and warm little animal, showing a kind of an intimate dependence on him. Yan Yue gently reached out and brushed away Lu Lingxi's scattered hair from his forehead. Lu Lingxi's hair was soft to the touch and made Yan Yue's heart soften into a mess. He couldn't help himself, lowered his head and kissed Lu Lingxi on the forehead, kissing his way down between his eyebrows and finally pressing his lips tenderly against Lu Lingxi's.
Lu Lingxi's eyelashes fluttered as he called out Yan Yue's name in a daze, squeezed forward and went back to sleep.
Yan Yue hugged Lu Lingxi quietly for a while, then got up lightly. As soon as he opened the door, a grey shadow flashed by. The big grey cat found the gap and wanted to get inside. Yan Yue reacted extremely quickly and grabbed him, looking at the grey cat full of teeth and claws in his arms with some headache.
"Xiao Xi is still sleeping, don't disturb him." Yan Yue spoke to the grey cat like he was speaking to Dahei. He felt that the cat should be able to understand. The big grey cat's golden eyes moved; he broke free from Yan Yue's grip, gently jumping to one side of the windowsill and quieting down.
Yan Yue raised his eyebrows; this cat's performance was quite beyond his expectations. But if this cat didn't have some abilities, he wouldn't have been able to dominate the village for so long. After solving the problem of the big grey cat, Yan Yue washed up and took Dahei for a run around the village. He had just returned to the courtyard when he received a call from Fang Lei asking if he and Lu Lingxi were at home today. Fang Lei had talked to Lu Lingxi last time about borrowing Dahei for a few days, so if they were home, he would go straight to the community to find them later.
"Xiao Xi and I are at Lingshui Village." Yan Yue said.
"Lingshui Village?" Fang Lei immediately said, "Then I'll go and look for you guys, and see Xiao Shi by the way."
"That's fine too, but you'd better come in the morning, Xiao Xi and I are going over to the Qiu Tian plant nursery in the afternoon."
Yan Yue and Lu Lingxi were planning to select a few healthy branches from the big willow tree and transplant the cuttings to the Qiu Tian plant nursery. Originally, there was no rush to do this; it could be done just before the willow tree sprouted. However, the weather had been warming up recently and the grass had already appeared, so Lu Lingxi was worried that the willow tree might sprout early. Last night, he discussed with Yan Yue to go home one day late and come back after finishing the matter.
When Yan Yue said this, Fang Lei agreed immediately. "I'm going out now, you guys remember to take care of my breakfast."
Yan Yue chuckled and turned his head just in time to see the big grey cat waving his paw provocatively at Dahei. A thought flashed in his mind and he laughed, "Don't worry, not only will you have breakfast, you also have a gift prepared for you."
"What kind of gift?"
"You'll know when you come." Yan Yue said meaningfully.
Chapter 125
Fang Lei couldn't have imagined that the gift Yan Yue mentioned would be a cat. Of course, the gift was Yan Yue's unilateral words and the choice still belonged to the big grey cat.
Fang Lei looked curiously at the grey cat that was lying in the courtyard, squinting his eyes in the sun. The grey cat looked lazy and very relaxed. "You say his name is Xiaohui?" As Fang Lei talked to Yan Yue, he intended to reach out to pet the cat. Fang Lei had just stretched out his hand when Xiaohui, who had seemed quite drowsy a moment ago, suddenly waved his front paw. Fortunately, Fang Lei's many years of working as a police officer counted for something, so he dodged it very quickly. He looked at the cat, who had turned from leisurely to alert in a second, and his tone became a bit odd, "Where did this Master Cat come from?"
Yan Yue was amused by his tone and chuckled. "Picked him up in the village." He focused on emphasising the words "picked up" and added lightly, "Xiaohui even dared to fight Dahei."
Fang Lei's eyes immediately lit up. From Dahei to Xiaohei, those who could be picked up by Lu Lingxi were not ordinary animals. Especially if this cat dared to fight Dahei; it was quite impressive. Unlike other people who liked to keep docile pets, Fang Lei thought it was better for his pet to be more powerful because of his special occupation. Of course, it would be better if a pet was as docile in front of the master as Dahei, and even more powerful in front of the enemy.
Yan Yue's words aroused Fang Lei's interest. He simply moved a small bench, sat in front of Xiaohui and asked Yan Yue for a slice of ham to tease Xiaohui.
Xiaohui glanced at Fang Lei with contempt, showing no interest whatsoever in the ham he was holding.
Lu Lingxi and Uncle Li returned from feeding the dogs and both laughed at the scene in front of them. Uncle Li kindly reminded Fang Lei, "This cat is very fierce, be careful of it scratching you."
Fang Lei smiled and waved his hand, "It's okay, I'm not afraid of scratching."
Uncle Li shook his head helplessly, thinking that he couldn't understand the young people nowadays.
Leaving Fang Lei to guard the yard, Yan Yue and Lu Lingxi followed Uncle Li to the big willow tree. Uncle Li circled around the willow tree and picked out a few branches that were 2-3 years old and instructed Yan Yue to cut them off. These branches would be the cuttings that Lu Lingxi intended to transplant to the Qiu Tian plant nursery.
As the power of nature wasn't easy to obtain and Lu Lingxi's limited power of nature was used to purify the soil in Fengcheng City, the Qiu Tian plant nursery had not been purified. Initially, when the area was re-planned, Yan Yue had dug up a lot of soil from Lingshui Village, including some for the vegetable greenhouse. However, this didn't have a lasting effect and Lu Lingxi couldn't wait for the purified soil from Lingshui Village to slowly expand. He was inspired by the eelgrass ecological community and wondered if he could form a whole new community of willow trees over there at the Qiu Tian plant nursery.
After cutting the branches, Lu Lingxi cut them all to 15-17cm, planning to make a trip to the Qiu Tian plant nursery now. He and Yan Yue went back to the small courtyard, where Xiao Shi had brought Ah Huang to see Fang Lei. When he saw Xiaohui, Xiao Shi immediately became nervous and commanded Ah Huang to hurry and chase the cat away.
Fang Lei stopped him and asked him what was going on. Xiao Shi angrily told him about the bullying of the village dogs by Xiaohui. Fang Lei's eyes lit up after hearing about Xiaohui's valiant deeds and he made up his mind to lure Xiaohui to follow him home no matter what. When Xiao Shi heard that Fang Lei wanted to keep the grey cat, he was furious. This cat was so bad, always bullying the village dogs, and Uncle Fang actually wanted to keep it?
His little face puffed out in anger while Xiaohui's golden eyes narrowed and his whiskers curled slightly as he leaped gently onto Fang Lei's shoulder and squatted there safely, meowing provocatively at Xiao Shi.
Fang Lei: "…"
Lu Lingxi didn't know what to say when he saw the scene in front of him. Yan Yue smiled, thinking that Xiao Shi had accidentally done Fang Lei a favour. If Fang Lei had to trick the big grey cat with that ham sausage, who knows how long it would take. But with Xiao Shi stimulating him, the big grey cat looked at Fang Lei with interest and got closer to him.
Yan Yue smiled and shook his head, telling Fang Lei that they were now going to the Qiu Tian plant nursery. The plant nursery here had Uncle Li, so Fang Lei could stay here with Xiao Shi.
"I don't want to stay with Uncle Fang, I want to go to the plant nursery too." Xiao Shi immediately drew a clear line with Fang Lei. He didn't want to be with that bad cat.
Fang Lei didn't know whether to laugh or to cry when he heard Xiao Shi's "the friend of my enemy is my enemy" words. He reached out and rubbed Xiao Shi's head, saying with a smile, "Then I'll go to the plant nursery and have a look too."
Xiao Shi looked at Fang Lei, pouting, and Fang Lei laughed.
Yu Xiaojuan was worried that Xiao Shi would cause trouble for Lu Lingxi and tried to stop Xiao Shi from going to the plant nursery. Lu Lingxi put in a good word for Xiao Shi, thinking that it was time for Xiao Shi to go out and let off some steam since he had been a good boy at home recently.
Lu Lingxi didn't mind, so Yu Xiaojuan stopped saying anything but still dragged Xiao Shi aside before letting him go and told him not to make any trouble outside. Yan Yue and Lu Lingxi got into the car first; Xiao Shi wanted to go with Lu Lingxi but was carried by Fang Lei into his car.
"One car can seat four people. Count Yan Yue, Xiao Xi plus Dahei, there is no space left to squeeze you and Ah Huang."
Xiao Shi puffed up in anger and kept quiet, pouting and glaring hard at Xiaohui on Fang Lei's shoulder. From the time they said they were going out, Xiaohui hadn't moved and looked like he was going to go along too.
Fang Lei amusedly carried Xiao Shi to the passenger side and rushed both Ah Huang and Xiaohui to the back. The cat and the dog each occupied one side of the car, confronting each other warily. Fang Lei looked in the rearview mirror and shook his head in amusement.
The Qiu Tian nursery wasn't too far away from Lingshui; it was only a thirty minute drive. The first place they passed when they arrived there was the Yongchun vegetable greenhouse. When Tiger saw Lu Lingxi and Yan Yue coming over, he greeted them with a smile. Lu Lingxi entrusted Xiao Shi and Fang Lei to Tiger, and he and Yan Yue went to the nursery. The nursery workers had already dug the holes in advance. They were all experts at planting trees, so there was no need for Lu Lingxi to intervene at all.
When the last cutting was inserted, the white panel floated out and a dozen green dots of light flashed on the panel, with a green line faintly linking these dots one by one. Lu Lingxi's heart moved slightly, knowing that the next step should be to form an ecological community of willows. Sure enough, as the green dots of light were all strung together, he felt a jolt of something in his mind. The soil within the green circle of light seemed to be alive and began to change, turning from light brown to transparent little by little in front of Lu Lingxi's eyes.
"Willow ecological community formed, soil purification successful, reward plant hearts +500"
Lu Lingxi breathed a sigh of relief and chose "yes" without hesitation to the panel displaying the question of whether to choose the plants of common origin to evolve homogeneously. He remembered that the first time he tried to establish a new ecological community after the eelgrass ecological community had been formed was a failure, and it had not succeeded until some time later. He was a little worried that the same thing might happen with the willow ecological community, but perhaps because the branches were cut directly from the old willow tree, it succeeded the first time.
This would also mean that the willow ecological community could replace the power of nature in the purification of the soil. And different willow ecological communities could also be linked together to form a higher level ecological community. Lu Lingxi was somewhat impressed. If he established a few more willow ecological communities around Fengcheng before spring began, wouldn't the entire soil of Fengcheng be purified?
Yan Yue guessed Lu Lingxi's thoughts at a glance and asked in a low voice, "Is it done?"
Lu Lingxi let out an "en".
Yan Yue reached out and rubbed Lu Lingxi's hair, bringing him into his arms and saying softly, "Does Xiao Xi want to just stick willows all over Fengcheng now?"
Lu Lingxi's eyes widened in surprise and he nodded obediently.
Yan Yue laughed softly and patted Lu Lingxi's back soothingly, saying softly, "The improvement of Fengcheng's environment is certainly a good thing, but we need to take our time. If the change in environment is too sudden, the secret of the panel's existence will probably be discovered soon."
Lu Lingxi understood what Yan Yue was saying and leaned into Yan Yue's embrace without speaking. After a short while, the pattern on the panel changed again. Two green lights, one large and one small, lit up, and a light green line extended a little bit from the spot in front of Lu Lingxi to the spot in the distance. The moment the two light spots were connected together, the image of the big willow tree appeared on the panel.
Plant name: Second-class weeping willow
Plant needs: none
Plant vitality: very high
Plant status: Second-level peak
Plant evolution conditions triggered, do you choose to evolve?